Commentary on transportation in Connecticut and the Northeast by JIM CAMERON, for 19 years a member of the CT Rail Commuter Council.
Jim is also the founder of a new advocacy effort: www.CommuterActionGroup.org
Disclaimer: his comments are only his own. All contents of this blog are (c) Cameron Communications Inc

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November 08, 2015

Stamford RR Garage Saga Drags On

The nearly decade-long
struggle to replace the crumbling Stamford railroad station parking garage has
taken another bizarre turn: the CDOT now
wants to spend $1.5 million and take six months to repair the garage before
they tear it down.

How did we get into this
mess? Let’s examine the time-line:

Garage construction - 1983

MAY
1983: Construction
begins on the Stamford Transportation Center, featuring a new train station and
parking garage. But construction is halted when cracks
are found in beams. Repairs are made and work continues.

AUGUST
2006: Crumbing
concrete, exposed and rusting rebar convince engineers the garage is near the
end of its life. CDOT decides it will be cheaper to demolish
the old 727-space parking garage than to repair it… $35 million.

AUGUST
2008: A hoped-for
public-private partnership (PPP) to replace the old garage in its current
location and add private office space falls through.

JULY
2012: The CDOT tries a
PPP again, issuing an
RFP (Request for Proposals) for replacement
parking within a quarter mile
of the station. Developers are promised
confidentiality. There are no public
hearings on any concepts, leaving
commuters in the dust. After protests, Governor Malloy appoints a panel to
oversee the CDOT process of selecting a developer. The group meets secretly, never seeking
public input nor ever issuing a report on its work.

JULY
1, 2013: Developer
John McClutchy and family donate
$30,000 to the CT State Central Democratic Committee. By February 2015, the McClutchy’s have
donated $165,000 to that federal account, bypassing state laws prohibiting
contractor contributions to candidates.

John McClutchy

JULY
11 2013: The
CDOT announces
its choice of developers for the Stamford Garage, JHM Group of Companies
(headed by John McClutchy), which proposes a 600,000 sq ft office / hotel
complex on the site of the old garage while parking is moved a quarter mile
away. Negotiations on a final deal get
underway.

APRIL
2015: Large
chunks of concrete fall from the ceiling of the Stamford Garage prompting CDOT
to close the facility for safety inspection, displacing 700+ daily parkers.

Spawling concrete, rusted rebar

JULY
2015: The
second anniversary of CDOT’s selection of JHM as developer of the garage
passes, but there is still
no signed contract. The old garage
remains closed into a third month with no word on repairs.

Those facts speak for
themselves. My only opinion: if CDOT can so mismanage a small project like
this, what’s going to happen when Governor Malloy gives them $100
billion to spend on his 30-year transportation plan?

3 comments:

The Stamford RR Garage Saga is completely on Stamford Mayor, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy's watch (and those that voted for Malloy to serve as Mayor and Governor.) That includes the $165,000 contributed to the State Democratic Central Committee.

Yesterday, upon return with luggage from overseas, I found all entrances to the normal west end elevators blocked with plastic fences, and the only way to my car, a few yards away at the west end of the garage fourth floor, was to go to the farthest east end, take that elevator and walk back west up the ramps... ridiculous, and with minimal information, no way to treat paying monthly parkers...but we are now used to it... by the way, you cant do it now because of the fences, but if you went to the fourth floor crossing spot from the new garage to the old one, as you turn left onto the old fourth level, heading towards the bridge to the concourse, and you look down at your feet, there is a small 1 1/2" hole through which you can see the floor below.. what is amazing is the extraordinary thin-ness of the concrete on which you are standing! not very encouraging given the wear and tear so visible around you...this is a horrible example of municipal incompetence and low grade construction threatening citizen welfare... and who is held responsible?

The McClutchy (sp) donations to the Democratic party are really quite stunning - pay to play. Unbelievable. There are a lot of constitutional issues with the State's grab to control all development within a quarter mile of the station. That is legally absurd. This goes to show the mendacity of our elected officials.

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Former NBC News director and anchor, now a professional communications consultant, JIM CAMERON leads workshops on media training, speech and presentations skills and preps clients for analyst briefings and legislative testimony.
Jim served for 19 years on the CT Metro-North Rail Commuter Council, is an elected member of the Darien Representative Town Meeting (RTM) and is Program Director of Darien TV79, his town's government TV station.